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Procedia
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Procedia Engineering 4 (2010) 127–134

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Procedia Engineering 4 (2010) 127–134
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
ISAB-2010

Geotechnical investigation and tension-pile solution for foundation

of SFT prototype at Qiandao Lake
Fuping Gaoa*, Wenjie Yana, Fei Geb
a
Key Laboratory for Hydrodynamics and Ocean Engineering, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
b
State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

Received 15 July 2010; revised 30 July 2010; accepted 1 August 2010

Abstract

Mooring foundation system is one of the key components for Submerged Floating Tunnel (SFT). In-situ
geotechnical investigations have been performed at Qiandao Lake, China and the geological characteristics of the
lake-bed sediments are obtained. In accordance to the geotechnical analyses and the review on various types of
foundations in the offshore engineering, the rock-embedded tension-pile may be employed as the potential
foundation solution for providing the required uplift resistance to the buoyancy of SFT, especially for the steep
sloping terrain at the sea/lake bed. The uplift bearing capacity of the tension pile embedded in the layered sediments
is further investigated numerically, with an axisymmetric finite element model for the vertical-loading condition,
and with a symmetric 3-D finite element model for the oblique-loading one. Numerical results indicate that, the
sediment characteristics have much effect on the shear stress along the pile-sediment interface, and the loading angle
also has much influence on the ultimate tension loads.

© 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

Keywords: tension-pile group; geotechnical investigation; submerged floating tunnel; foundation solution

1. Introduction

Submerged Floating Tunnel (SFT) is an attractive technical solution for waterway crossings, especially in the
nature reserves (e.g. Qiandao Lake, China) for its negligible environmental impact [1, 2]. SFT is a type of tubular
structure submerged in the water with the Archimedes buoyancy taking actions. In the offshore engineering, many
types of floating structures have been utilized for oil and gas exploration, mainly including Tension Leg Platform
(TLP), Jackup Platform, Spar Platform, and FPSO. The offshore floating structures are usually moored to the seabed
with various kinds of foundations, including suction caisson, plate anchor, spudcan, gravity foundation, and tension
pile, etc [3]. Similar to the aforementioned offshore floating structures, the tubular structure of SFT may also be

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-10-82544189; fax: +86-10-82543663.

E-mail address: fpgao@imech.ac.cn

1877-7058 c 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2010.08.015
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tethered to the sea/lake bed with a foundation mooring system to obtain required stability in the filed.
Pile foundations [4] have been widely used for the structures on land and in the offshore field. Compared with
the conventional compressive pile loaded downwards, the tension pile is employed for the upward loading
conditions, which bring much complexity in the pipe-sediment interaction process. To properly evaluate the bearing
capacity of the tension pile embedded in various sediments is one of the main concerns for the engineering design of
tension piles.
In this paper, the choice of appropriate foundations for the SFT prototype at Qiandao Lake is discussed, in
accordance to the engineering geological analyses of the initial geotechnical investigations. The uplift resistance of
tension piles embedded in layered sediments is further investigated numerically with case study.

2. Geotechnical investigations for SFT prototype construction at Qiandao Lake

Geotechnical investigations are generally divided into three separate phases, i.e. Stage I: preliminary
investigations, Stage II: initial design investigations, and Stage III: final design investigations, to minimize costs and
for developing the necessary data at each stage of the approval, design, and construction of a project.
At the stage of preliminary investigations, adequate information should be obtained to justify site selection and
preliminary cost estimates. After the preliminary investigations on various sites with the local government in
Qiandao Lake in 2005, the SFT Prototype has been determined to be constructed at the Archimedes Bridge Bay
(ABB) of Qiandao Lake. Recently, initial design investigations have been carried out along the selected route for
construction of the SFT prototype at Qiandao Lake (see Fig. 1(a)). The main objectives of initial design
investigations are to get in-situ information to obtain regulatory approvals, develop engineering and environmental
data, and refine cost estimates, etc. In this stage of initial design geotechnical investigations, five positions were
chosen for boring and sediment sampling. Based on the drill logs, the engineering geology section was obtained as
shown in Fig. 1 (b).

Boreholes:
/HYHO
P = = = = =



Layer 1: Silt :DWHU

2-1: Silty clay(with gravel)

 4-2: High weathered tuff-sandstone 4-2

1
4-3: Medium weathered tuff-sandstone

2-1 2-2: Gravel(with silty clay)

 4-3
 33.9 20.0 20.0 33.9

*DSEHWZHHQERUHKROHVP

Fig. 1. (a) In-situ geotechnical investigations at Archimedes Bridge Bay, Qiandao Lake, China: Selected route for SFT prototype construction; (b)
Engineering geology section

There usually exist five layers along selected route in the lakebed (see Fig. 1 (b)), i.e.
z Layer 1: Silt
Main characteristics: grey color, saturated, slight plasticity; sediments include settled soil particles suspended in
water, organic silts etc.
z Layer 2-1: Silty Clay
Main characteristics: grey-yellow color, saturated, good plasticity; gravel contents: 15-35%, soil particle diameter:
2-20mm, particle shape: subangular, composition: tuff- sandstone, high dry strength and tenacity.
z Layer 2-2: Gravel mixed with silty clay
Main characteristics: grey yellow or grey green color, medium dense to dense; gravel contents: 50-75%, particle
size: 20-40mm, maximum grain up to 80mm; particle shape: subangular; component: tuff-sandstone with some
medium coarse sand; moderate dry strength and tenacity. Distributed randomly (usually exists at flat zones).
z Layer 4-2: Highly Weathered Tuff-Sandstone
 F. Gao et al. / Procedia Engineering 4 (2010) 127–134 129
F.P. Gao et al. / Procedia Engineering 4 (2010) 127–134 3

Main characteristics: perplish brown or grey green color; core sample: shiver or gravel shape, eroded locally,
crack filled with manganese mineral. Distributed randomly (missing at some locations).
z Layer 4-3: Medium Weathered Tuff-Sandstone
Main characteristics: perplish brown, grey green color, good hardness; core sample: shiver shape, column shape
(length: 5-30cm), eroded locally, grey-green color, weathered crack filled with manganese mineral, block structure.
The thickness of the stratum along the selected route for SFT construction is shown in the Table 1. As illustrated
in Table 1 and Fig.1 (b), the lakebed is mainly composed of tuff-sandstone randomly covered with thin soils. The
test results on compressive strength of rock specimens show that, the medium weathered tuff-sandstone has
excellent bearing capacity, and no faults or crash zones exist in this stratum. The medium-weathered tuff-sandstone
could be employed for supporting the structures, and the shallow overburden soil would have slight influence on the
foundation design.

Table 1. Stratum thickness along the selected route at the lakebed of ABB

Stratum Thickness (m)

Stratum No. Stratum Name
Z1 Z2 Z3 Z4 Z5
1 Silt 0.30 / 0.30 0.70 /
2-1 Silty clay 1.10 / 2.70 4.50 /
2-2 Gravel (mixed with silty clay) / / / 1.20 /
4-2 Highly-weathered tuff sandstone 0.90 / / / 0.30
4-3 Medium-weathered tuff sandstone >11.60 >11.00 >7.60 >4.20 >15.40

3. Choice of appropriate foundations for the SFT prototype: Discussion

In the offshore engineering, with the increase of water depth, floating structures have been successfully utilized
for oil and gas exploration, such as Tension Leg Platform (TLP), Jackup Platform, Spar Platform, FPSO, etc.
Floating structures are usually moored to the seabed with various foundations. Quite a few types of foundations,
such as suction caissons, plate anchor, spudcan, gravity foundation etc, have been invented and employed efficiently
in the field [3].
z Suction caisson, also named as ‘suction pile’, ‘bucket foundation’, ‘caisson anchor’, and ‘skirt foundation’,
is usually installed by applying under-pressure (‘suction’) to its interior after it is allowed to penetrate under
its own weight. The difference between the hydrostatic water pressure outside the cylinder and the reduced
water pressure inside provides a differential pressure that acts as a penetration force in addition to the
weight. After installation, the caisson’s interior is sealed off and vertical loading creates an internal
underpressure which in turn mobilizes the end bearing resistance of the soil at the caisson tip.
z Plate anchor is commonly driven vertically or inclined to the desired depth and then rotated to its optimal
position by applying a vertical tension on the mooring line. The bearing capacity of a drag anchor depends
strongly on its final orientation and depth below the seabed.
z Spudcan is widely used as the footing of the mobile jackup rigs (platform) for installing new platforms,
maintenance work and drilling and even for production for fields of limited life. Spudcans are typically
circular or polygonal in plan, with a shallow conical underside and a central spigot to provide improved
sliding resistance.
z Gravity foundation employs its own weight to balance the buoyancy of floating structures, such as a one-
point mooring system.
z Tension Pile (to be discussed in detail, see below)
In sum, suction caisson, plate anchor and spudcan are generally installed on sands or clays, so they may not be
appropriate for the foundation on the lakebed at ABB, which is mainly composed of tuff-sandstone. Generally
speaking, the gravity foundation is less economical in material cost than tension pile. However, in the practical
application of gravity foundation to be installed upon the steep slope, the bottom preparations are required to avoid
bottom sliding.
130 F. Gao et al. / Procedia Engineering 4 (2010) 127–134
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As shown in Fig.1 (a), the lakebed terrain at ABB of Qiandao Lake has the feature of steep bed-surface. Thus,
tension pile embedded in the sediments mainly consisting of medium-weathered sandstones may be employed in the
optional mooring system to provide the required uplift resistance (see Fig. 2(a) and (b)), in case that overburden
shallow soil is insufficient to develop enough skin frictions along the pile shaft. As well-known, a drilled and
grouted pile is a type of pile for the foundation of offshore platforms. The piles are usually installed by drilling a
hole below the seafloor, removing the drilling tool, lowering a steel/reinforced-concrete pipe into the open hole, and
grouting the annulus between the pipe and the sediments. In the following section, the uplift resistance of a tension
pile in the layered sediments will be analysed.

Tension Pile

RockSoil

(a) (b)

Fig. 2. (a) An optional mooring systems for the SFT prototype at Qiandao Lake, China; (b) Schematic map of a tension pile in the sediment

4. FEM analysis on uplift resistance of tension piles: A case study

4.1. FEM model for simulating tension pile-rock/soil interaction

An axisymmetric finite element model (FEM) for the interaction of a single tension pile with layered sediments
under the action of vertical loading (see Fig. 3(a)), and a symmetric three-dimensional (3-D) finite element model
for oblique loading.
In these two proposed FEMs, The lakebed sediment is simulated with the well-known Drucker-Prager (D-P)
elastoplasticity constitutive model which is provided in the ABAQUS software [5], and the pile is treated as an
elastic cylindrical material. The proposed numerical model has been verified with the existing test results [6]. In this
case study, the parameters of the pile and the layered sediments are chosen as listed in Table 2, referencing to the
properties of the sediments at Qiandao Lake.
In the numerical simulation of the tension pile-sediment interaction, it is crucial to properly describe the contact
conditions between the pile and the neighbouring layered sediments. At the pile-sediment interface, the contact-pair
algorithm provided in the ABAQUS software [5] is adopted to simulate the moving tension pile along the
deformable sediment. The pile-sediment friction is defined by the Penalty Function with the advantage that it
guarantees the positive definiteness of sparse matrix in the calculation. Both the frictional mechanism and the
bonding mechanism can be simulated with the proposed finite element model. The pile-sediment frictional
coefficient is set as P =0.4; the maximum pile-sediment bonding strength is set as 300kPa for the vertical loading
condition. On the outer circumferential boundary, no displacement in the radial direction takes place; meanwhile the
bottom boundary is fixed, i.e. the displacement and rotation are not permitted. The non-contact sediment surface is
treated as a free boundary.
 F. Gao et al. / Procedia Engineering 4 (2010) 127–134 131
F.P. Gao et al. / Procedia Engineering 4 (2010) 127–134 5

(a) (b)

Fig.3. Finite element models for the interaction of a single tension pile with layered sediments: (a) Axisymmetric model for vertical loading; (b)
Symmetric three-dimensional (3-D) model for oblique loading

Table 2. Properties of the pile and the layered sediments (for case study)

Angle of
Pile Pile Mass Elastic Poisson’s Cohesion
Stratum Thickness internal
Material/ Stratum length diameter density modulus ratio strength
No. friction
ǂQ
(m)
L (m) D (m) U (kg/m3) E (Pa) C (Pa)
I (0)
3 9
Pile / 6.0~14.0 0.6~1.0 2.3×10 28.0×10 0.17 / /
Layer-1 Silt 0.5 / / 1.9×103 0.50×106 0.45 0.10×103 5.00
Layer-2 Clay 4 / / 2.1×103 6.00×106 0.30 35.0×103 29.3
Layer-3 Gravel-clay mixture 1.2 / / 2.3×103 8.50×106 0.30 56.0×103 33.1
Highly-weathered
Layer-4 4.0 / / 2.4×103 15.0×106 0.20 84.0×103 40.6
tuff sandstone
Medium-weathered
Layer-5 12.0 / / 2.4×103 50.0×106 0.20 210×103 44.5
tuff sandstone

4.2. Numerical results and discussions

The uplift bearing capacity of the tension pile is investigated numerically for the two cases of loading conditions,
i.e. Case I: vertical loading, and Case II: oblique loading.
Fig. 4 (a) and (b) give the contour of total displacement of the layered sediments around the vertically loaded
tension pile (L = 14 m, D = 0.6m) for the two given values of the pile-top displacement w = 3mm, and 30mm,
respectively. These figures show that, for the tension pile embedded in the layered sediments with different
properties, the sediment displacement is continuous along the tension pile, and the displacement zone gets enlarged
with increasing the pile-top displacement from 3mm to 30mm.
Nevertheless, the sediment characteristics have much influence on the shear stress along the pile-sediment
interface, as shown in Fig. 5. The total tension load ( Q ) on the tension pipe embedded in N layers of sediments can
be obtained with Eq. (1):

¦³
Li
Q qi ( z )S Ddz (1)
Li 1
i 1
132 F. Gao et al. / Procedia Engineering 4 (2010) 127–134
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where Li is the embedment thickness of the pile in the ith layer of the sediments. As shown in this figure, the
profiles of the pile-sediment interfacial stress along the pile surface embedded in the layered sediments are quite
similar. As the pile-top displacement increases up to a certain value (e.g. w = 30mm, see Fig. 6), the pile-sediment
interfacial shear stress at the Layer-5 (medium-weathered tuff sandstone) gets nearly five time larger than that at the
Layer-2 (clay). With the increase of the strength and the rigidity while the sediments get deeper, the shear stress at
the pile-sediment interface gets much higher, indicating the layer of medium-weathered tuff sandstone contributes
much larger to the resultant uplift capacity of the tension pile than the upper soft sediment covers.

(a) (b)

Fig. 4. Displacement contour of the layered sediment around the vertically loaded tension pile (L = 14 m, D = 0.6m) for two given values of the
pile-top displacement (w): (a) w=3 mm; (b) w = 30 mm

0 Layer-1

2
Layer-2
Depth (m)

4
w=30mm
Layer-3
6 10mm
8 Layer-4

10
3mm Layer-5
12

14
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Shear stress at pile-sediment interface q u (kPa)

Fig. 5. Development of the shear stress along the pile-sediment interface for various values of pile-top displacement (L = 14m, D = 0.6m)

Fig. 6(a) shows the variation of the uplift load with the pile-top displacement of single tension piles for various
values of pile length. For a certain pile length, with the increase of pipe-top displacement, the uplift load increases
gradually to its maximum value, named as the ultimate tension load ( Qp ). For this examined layered sediment, the
values of the dimensionless ultimate tension load increases with the increase of the pile length, as shown in Fig. 6(b).
The dimensionless ultimate tension load q p is expressed as

Qp
qp (2)
U p gD 2 L
 F. Gao et al. / Procedia Engineering 4 (2010) 127–134 133
F.P. Gao et al. / Procedia Engineering 4 (2010) 127–134 7

whose physical meaning is the ratio of ultimate tension load to the weight of the pile structure, where U p is the mass
density of the pile. Note that, a critical length of the tension piles exists under most of pile/sediment conditions. That
is, the ultimate tension load would stop increasing while the pile length reaches its critical value. The interfacial
shear degradation effects on axial uplift capacity of a tension pile have been further investigated by Yan and Gao [6].
3
3.0x10 45

2.5x10
3 14m 40
Uplift load Q (kN)

3 35
2.0x10

Qp/UpgD L
12m 30

2
3
1.5x10 1.0m
25
3 10m
1.0x10
20
8m D=0.6m
2
5.0x10 15
L=6m
0.0 10
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 5 10 15 20 25
Pile-top displacement (mm) L/D
(a) (b)

Fig. 6. (a) Uplift load-displacement curves of the single tension pile for various values of pile length (L=6  14m; D = 0.6m); (b) Variation of
dimensionless ultimate uplift load with dimensionless pile length

As illustrated in the aforementioned optional mooring systems for the SFT prototype (see Fig. 2(a)), the tension
piles may be either vertically loaded or obliquely loaded. Thus it is interesting to examine the effects of loading
angle on the uplift resistance of the tension pile by employing the symmetric three-dimensional (3-D) finite element
model for oblique loading (see Fig. 3(b)). Note that in the 3-D simulation for the obliquely-loaded pile-sediment
interaction, the bonding mechanism at the pile-sediment interface was neglected, i.e. only the friction mechanism
was taken into account.
Fig. 7(a) gives the displacement contour of the layered sediment around the horizontally loaded tension pile at the
pipe-top displacement w = 30 mm. The sediment displacement is not axisymmetric for the obliquely loaded tension
pile. The displacement discontinuity is observed between the pile and the neighbouring sediment, especially at the
back of the bending pile. The variation of the total tension load with pile-top displacement of an obliquely-loaded
single tension pile is shown in Fig. 7(b). It is indicated in this figure that, the loading angle has much influence on
the ultimate tension load. For a certain value of pile-top displacement before the tension pile reaches its critical
bearing state, the oblique loads get smaller with increasing loading angle. The ultimate values of the tension load
tend to become larger for the bigger loading angles. Nevertheless, the pile-top displacement would become the more
prevailing influential factor while increasing the loading angle.

2
7x10
2
6x10
T =0
o
2 10
Oblique Load Q(kN)

5x10
o
20
2
4x10
2 o
3x10 30
2
2x10
T
o
2 90
1x10
D=1.0
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Pile-top displacement (mm)
(a) (b)

Fig. 7. (a) Displacement contour of the layered sediment around the horizontally loaded tension pile (L = 14 m, D = 1.0 m; T =900, w = 30 mm);
(b) Effects of loading angle: Variation of the total tension load with pile-top displacement of an obliquely-loaded single tension pile
134 F. Gao et al. / Procedia Engineering 4 (2010) 127–134
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5. Concluding remarks

In-situ geotechnical investigations including the preliminary and initial design investigations have been
performed at Qiandao Lake, China. By means of boring and sampling, the engineering geology section along the
selected route in the lakebed has been obtained, which indicates that the lakebed is layered sediments mainly
composed of tuff-sandstone and randomly covered with thin clay soil or gravels. Note that the final design
geotechnical investigations are needed for the formal construction design of the foundations.
The brief review of the foundations commonly used in offshore engineering is made. Considering the properties
of in-situ sediments, tension piles or gravity foundations may be chosen as the foundations for the SFT prototype.
As the lakebed terrain at the chosen site in Qiandao Lake has the feature of fluctuant surface with steep slope, the
tension pile is more preferential than the gravity foundation.
The uplift resistance of tension pile embedded in the layered sediments is further investigated numerically. An
axisymmetric finite element model (FEM) is proposed for simulating the behavior of a single tension pile under the
action of vertical loading, and a symmetric three-dimensional (3-D) finite element model for the oblique loading.
Numerical results indicate that, the sediment characteristics have much influence on the shear stress along the pile-
sediment interface. The layer of medium-weathered tuff sandstone contributes much larger to the resultant uplift
capacity of the tension pile than the upper soft sediment covers. The loading angle also has much influence on the
ultimate tension loads. In the engineering practice, the pile-group may be considered for a safer design for the SFT
foundation. Specific attentions should also be paid to the long-term bearing degradation of tension piles especially
due to the cyclic loading.

Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
(Grant no. KJCX2-YW-L07). Helpful discussions and support from Professor Youshi Hong are greatly appreciated.

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